Dec. 7, 2018
07:04 am JST

I wonder if Ghosn admitted to this, so that it would also implicate the coup leader Saikawa. It might be a risky move, but it proves that it was not only Ghosn and Kelly who knew of the deferred payments. Of course, Saikawa will skate, but it drags him deeper into this story.

Dec. 7, 2018
07:06 am JST

But the sources said the 64-year-old has argued that the signing of the papers was only to confirm his understanding of the documents' contents, apparently maintaining he did not commit financial misconduct.

LOL He learned how to find a loophole from working with Japanese, the masters of circumventing laws.

Dec. 7, 2018
07:14 am JST

He wasn't paid the money during those years, based on what I've read. So why would he report it as payments made during those years.

The problem, as I understand it, is that he didn't report it at all. There would generally be a section on every company balance sheet stating the total amount of accrued deffered compensation even if the exact year of payment remains uncertain. It would sit there on the balance sheet as a company debt until it was actually paid out. In any case, this future liability has to be disclosed. The key point is that Ghosn was guaranteed to recieve the money. It wasn't something the company could decide not to pay out in the future even if his performance was poor. He would have been able to sue to collect it.

So, if you were an investor in Nissan, wouldn't you feel cheated if you put your money in and then discovered that there's a 5 billion yen debt that was never disclosed in securities filings or company accounts? This is the crime that's being investigated.

Dec. 7, 2018
08:04 am JST

This reminds me the case of Takanohana. It is basically a company power strife and should have been settled inside the company. But as Takanohana did, Saikawa reported it to police directly thinking they cannot solve the problem by themselves. Police or prosecutors should not have been involved in this. It is giving an impression to people that the prosecutors extended a helping hand to Saikawa to get rid of Ghosn.

Dec. 7, 2018
08:20 am JST

Dec. 7, 2018
08:31 am JST

This don't mean he hiding it intentionally .I don't know why the prosecutor don't go after the accounting and auditing firm .The whole things don't look like fraud to me. More like error in filing .By crime did he commit .The firm and board should be investigate as well .They fully know about it.

Dec. 7, 2018
09:06 am JST

Dec. 7, 2018
09:29 am JST

Our Ghosn is finally learning, it's a good first step that he has finally confessed to part of his incredible crimes. More will surely follow. His next learning task after that is learning how to behave in prison.

Dec. 7, 2018
09:57 am JST

Dec. 7, 2018
10:20 am JST

I feel he was tricked by the Florange Law (Macron) and tricked by Nissan Board wanting to deferr to get around cap rules, the French Government threatened his CEO position at Renault unless he pushed for take over, far from being a villain Ghosn is a production hero for Nissan, with some childish bookwork and a big ego, but the French Government maybe need to answer some questions, I think they are the problem.

Dec. 7, 2018
10:26 am JST

Dman112, OK, I will explain it to you as less complicated as possible and hopefully you can take it. He denied it first and then admitted it, if that is not a lie, then what is it ? If Nissian committed wrong doing, Ghosn is still responsible because he is the head of the company at the time. Legally speaking, Japanese can't prosecute anyone just because they are prosecutors. A hint to you, Ghosn isn't the only one arrested. It is convoluted.

Dec. 7, 2018
10:39 am JST

Everyone is getting their facts from the same source the media! The Media prints what it deems will sell, not what it deems is MORALLY PROPER!

The whole system is rigged and the house of cards for JAPAN will begin to Collapse as documentaries outlining all the upper managerial blunders is aired for the world! Showing the true nature of business in Japan.

Dec. 7, 2018
10:42 am JST

Akie,

What is "it"? "denied it", "admitted it"? I don't see anywhere he lied, please tell us exactly what this lie is?

Also, so because he was the CEO at the time, he deserves to be in detention center for this long? How about all of the other CEO's of Japanese companies, Toshiba, Olympus, Takata, Kobe Steel - did they spend any time in detention center?

Dec. 7, 2018
11:05 am JST

Dman112, I have headache because you made me dizzy. You just spin it too much. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you denied it before you admitted it, then you lied about it. You can't get it both ways, it is binary. The problem for Ghosn is that it doesn't matter it is Nissan's fault or his fault, the fault is about his financial report. He can't get it both ways, to blame Nissan for his fault while signed all documents legally.

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Dec. 7, 2018
11:13 am JST

Akie and Dman112, please do not address each other any further on this thread.

Dec. 7, 2018
11:14 am JST

But the sources said the 64-year-old has argued that the signing of the papers was only to confirm his understanding of the documents' contents, apparently maintaining he did not commit financial misconduct.

It was also learned Thursday that Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa had apparently signed separate documents on post-retirement payments crafted by Ghosn's close aide Greg Kelly, who was also arrested.

Prosecutors have questioned Saikawa on a voluntary basis, believing he knows why and how the documents were created, the sources said.

Ghosn has been arrested on suspicion of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act by reporting only 5 billion yen of his 10 billion yen remuneration during the five years from fiscal 2010.

Aside from Ghosn's signature, the documents also included those of former Japanese secretarial officers.

Wow.. just wow, signing any contractual work agreement of the main CEO, would require lawyers, parties of all 3 companies, CFO present, translators, accountants to explain. Look at how cowardly worded this 'reporter' writes, key words used 'voluntary basis' Saikawa is innocent ? deflecting again from the main people: CFO, Accountants, Lawyers, Shareholders chair, is this all a forced fake confession? There is vague deflecting information as usual.. Kyodo, shame!

Dec. 7, 2018
12:17 pm JST

Folks there is a TON of what ifs, he said he said, she saids etc...……

No idea WHAT to believe. Sounds like he MAY have tried to hide current income to be paid later, as a few have said you still MUST report that in the year it was to be earned, that is IRRELEVANT to when he gets paid!!

SO, clearly the prosecutors DO NOT want a trial, they are going for the FORCED CONFESSION, very unbecoming!!

This MUST, rather should go to trial, but then the prosecution etc would actually have to do their jobs would they are loath to do

Dec. 7, 2018
01:13 pm JST

The learning is that the first thing the person in the highest position like Ghosn should do is to obey the law. In that way, there is no chance for other people to attack him/her. Executives in Nissan may have known the Ghosn's misconduct but it was just for an ultimate weapon when he start to betray the company.

Dec. 7, 2018
01:27 pm JST

First, . Are these documents in Japanese or translated into English ???. In Japan, many documents are made as a matter to just function in a Japanese company. But the signed parties never actually read it. In normal times, each just trust the other. This is not bad yet, Japan is called the hanko ( stamp ) country. and they have many hankos, round, square then the real honko called jitsuinn. Therefore, signing papers are merely to make better understanding. Unfortunately, there is the other side , the bad side. What now ??? signing a document that states the truth is a crime ???. I am getting confused. Pls tell me, is it a crime ???if a Japanese Kansayaki took my round hanko and stamp a document that I did not even see ???.

Dec. 7, 2018
01:36 pm JST

Sorry, but I'm skeptical. I personally think the pressure got to him and he cracked. At that stage, he probably would have signed a confession to the murder of Sharon Tate. Japanese justice is a joke.

The situation is much more simple Ghosn said he doesn't know of what they were talking about and then he was shown the document with his signature clearly stating that he will be compensated a total of 50 billion yen once his retirement from the company and the prosecutor asks if the signature is his in which he cannot deny.

The lame excuse he made, "I only signed to confirm that I understanding the contents but I never intended in agreeing with it".

No Court in the democratic world would accept this kind of BS statement.

Dec. 7, 2018
01:45 pm JST

The situation is much more simple Ghosn said he doesn't know of what they were talking about and then he was shown the document with his signature clearly stating that he will be compensated a total of 50 billion yen once his retirement from the company and the prosecutor asks if the signature is his in which he cannot deny.

Then take it to court. Why keep the man locked up for days until he confesses? Take it to court and convict him there. No. This is BS. Its a forced confession because they have NOTHING on him.

No Court in the democratic world would accept this kind of BS statement.

No Court in the democratic world would accept this kind of BS forced confession.

Dec. 7, 2018
01:45 pm JST

Dec. 7, 2018
01:56 pm JST

Unless the French govt or Renault kick him to the curb,Ghosn will have to be released on bail at some time.He'll probably be denied his passport to leave the country,but he can still run things as long as he's still in charge at Renault.Nissan's best hope is they don't let him out like what happened to the man accusing Abe in the nationalist school drama.He had to stay 10 months locked up.And then have him "mysteriously" die in custody.I can see that happening.Japan is not the sweet democracy that they have people thinking.

Dec. 7, 2018
01:58 pm JST

Dec. 7, 2018
02:02 pm JST

In other news a Chinese executive was arrested, now not saying anything else about the arrest. Its what Chinese foreign ministry said.

Mr. Xi was apparently never told of the intent to arrest Ms. Meng at the dinner with Mr. Trump, where Mr. Bolton was present. The arrest came as a surprise to the Chinese government, which is calling for her immediate release and has accused the United States and Canada of human rights violations.

“To detain someone without giving clear reason is an obvious violation of human rights,” Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Thursday.

Dec. 7, 2018
02:02 pm JST

The more I read about this, and think about it, it is beginning to look like the classic Japanese scam.

Instigate, incite or provoke the foreigner to do something (not necessarily wrong), Report it, have the foreigner arrested, force a confession and then demand overboard compensation, knowing that judges know little about monetary compensation. Give the foreigners a suspended sentence and tell everybody how kind they are. All justified by "this is Japan"..

Dec. 7, 2018
02:24 pm JST

Some interrogators use moral blackmail (“Think of the shame you are bringing on your family”). A few, if they are convinced that the suspect is guilty, simply fabricate a confession and press the suspect into signing it.

One lawyer estimates that a tenth of all convictions leading to prison are based on false confessions. It is impossible to know the true figure, but when 99.8% of prosecutions end in a guilty verdict, it is clear that the scales of justice are out of balance.

Dec. 7, 2018
02:57 pm JST

Dec. 7, 2018
03:44 pm JST

gokai_wo_manekuToday 06:52 am JST

After all this, including this confession, are people still going to say that Nissan is just trying to get rid of the gaijin?

That makes perfect sense, why has this gaijin been in Jail for so long for a non violent crime, can anyone name a senior Japanese executive that's been in jail for this long without charges being laid - Kobe Steel apparently played with the figures for 40 yrs, it took months before Japanese police were even brought in to investigate and still not one single person has been put in detention.

Dec. 8, 2018
07:33 pm JST

Dec. 10, 2018
02:04 pm JST

Everyone at Nissan Japan involved in this case should be shown the door out of Nissan. This is the only possible solution to save Nissan share-holders, staffs suppliers, and good honest Japanese. We must never let people like siakawa get away with throwing dirt in everybody's face except his own. He was the one that stated all this so call evidence on Carlos, Who do not read or write the Japanese language. Bad Japanese people should be prosecuted. Not people like Carlos, who helped put 3 car companies to-gather. I will not buy anything from Nissan until the old group like sakawa & his guchi team are fired. We good Normal Japanese are ashamed of the betraying for own selfish gain type. What a bad example to all young Japanese.